I'll play Devils advocate; how come you guys agree to take tests to drive a car but not to be proficient with a gun? Think about it. Why do you do really agree to wait at the DMV all day just so that some beauracrat can charge you $ x.xx in order to operate a motor vehicle when Free Passage was a given? You guys think that taking the test to carry a gun is the objective of the Government or taxation of the right to carry is the objective?
Taxation is a factor, but the purposes of licensing are simply the requirement of the King's blessing under the proven false guise of "keeping guns out of the wrong hands." Also, the driving analogy is a false straw-man under the American system as it is not an enumerated right recognized under our Constitution and followed with the words "shall not be infinged."
Defense of self is an inherent human right, and should not be subject to the blessing of the King.
Further, the "idiots on ranges" argument is one of presumptive arrogance. It projects your judgement of a minority of fools onto all of society, yet not once have I heard this complaint followed by an observation that said morons drove 4000lb death machines to the range.
Liberty is not safe. You choose it or you choose false safety at the expense of the liberty of others. Any one of those range idiots is almost certainly capable of passing any CHL course in the country. And at the end of it, they will almost certainly remain an idiot. With a gun. And a car. And access to gasoline which has a relative explosive factor (to TNT) of .4 and is surprisingly toxic.
Permits do nothing to make anyone safer. They merely line some pockets, infringe on our rights, provide a false sense of security for those who believe a murderer needs the King's blessing to carry HIS gun, and unduly burden our exercise of an inherent right.
Permit systems are better than no-carry, but constitutional carry is the
right solution.